Garmin Vector 3 £849.99
Unlike with the original Vectors and Vector 2s, the power meter part is now housed inside the Vector 3, a pair of which weighs 324g (claimed weight 316g).
Stack height is low at 11.5mm and there’s 13.7in of clearance. We didn’t have any concerns about cornering and we’ve not crash tested them for ultimate resilience.
The pedals are Look style, compatible with standard Look cleats and come with a set in the box. There’s no special trick to fitting the pedals and no worry about getting the torque exactly right in order to get accurate readings, as was the case with previous models. We used a Garmin Edge 1030 and you simply go into settings > sensors, and search for sensors. Once the Garmin ‘sees’ it, you set crank length and calibrate.
Calibration needs to be performed ahead of every ride but is very easy: select the sensor, hit ‘calibrate’, unclip from the pedals and wait a few seconds.
Updates can be administered via your Garmin Edge unit, and you can also adjust settings using the Garmin Connect mobile app.
Battery life is a claimed 120 hours and the pedals take four LR44 or SR44 coin batteries. Changing the batteries is as simple as using an Allen key to open them up, and slotting new batteries in.
Claimed accuracy is +/- 1%. We found that, as a rule, the Garmin Vector pedals read a bit lower during short bursts when compared to a Powertap hub, but a bit higher than the Wahoo Kickr direct-drive turbo trainer (drivetrain wastage is at around five to six watts). Over longer durations, the numbers were slightly higher than the Powertap and lower than the Wahoo, which was rather generous.
This is an excellent product that’s hard to fault. Fitting, connection and battery changing are all easy; accuracy seems as good as any other. In future iterations, compatibility with other head units could be an area for improvement — but this is largely out of Garmin’s hands.